Friday, February 25, 2011

What is life's meaning?

Once again, we read another portion on how the Tabernacle was designed and built. A few weeks ago we learned about the design God intends to be built. Over this Shabbat, the Israelites actually construct their tent for worship. It is quite a contrast to last week's shock following the golden calf incident. While building the Tabernacle, the twelve tribes worked together to create something beautiful. People use their particular skills to contribute to the finished product. No one person thought about themselves upon building the Tabernacle. They were all just working together to do God's work on Earth.

When we talk about the meaning of Judaism, we think about it as an "on Earth" religion. Unlike Christianity, Jews do not have a sure belief in the afterlife. We agree to disagree about life after death. Jews believe that God put us on Earth to enhance the creation that is already there. Much like in the parshat, we are supposedly working together to make the world a better place. In this week's portion (Vayakhel), we are literally building something to encompass God on Earth. Nowadays, we follow the 613 mitzvot in the Torah to help perfect God's initial ideas. Instead of letting life go by until a fate in heaven or hell, Jews embrace life on Earth. We try to have the best experiences we can before moving on to the afterlife.

Over the course of my fourteen years, I believe I have somewhat found one of the meanings of life. In my lifetime, I intend to fix the world through charity and kindness while maintaining my own happiness and stability. I am willing to bring people into my life who can help me achieve this goal. Just like the Israelites, I want to use my skills to create something great. By stability, I mean that I intend to put out enough food, water, and shelter for my family and myself. Money has no say in my meaning of life. Hopefully, the world can continue to work towards a better creation. I know that we can establish a wonderful, new domain.

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